Economic

By the late 1950s, Tan Son Nhat Airport had become an integral component in the U.S. plan to fly military, economic, and political advisors into South Vietnam. By the late 1950s, Tan Son Nhat Airport had become an integral component in the U.S. plan to fly military, economic, and political advisors into South Vietnam. >> Tan Son Nhat Airport's centennial - P3: Red soil runways >> Tan Son Nhat Airport's centennial - P2: The first Vietnamese pilot >> Tan Son Nhat Airport's centennial - P1: Saigon's first iron birds The original French-built runway began to crumble under the strain of increasingly frequent use by heavy aircraft, leading to the construction of a new, longer runway. The first jet runway One day in September 1962, a monumental event was held in Saigon: President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam oversaw the inauguration of an A-class runway at Tan Son Nhat Airport, the longest in Southeast Asia at the time. In his remarks, Diem spoke of the urgent … [Read more...] about Tan Son Nhat Airport’s centennial – Conclusion: First-class airport

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responding to accusations from a Vietnamese online hotel booking website that Singaporean-based competitor Agoda has evaded tax in Vietnam. Mr. Le Dac Lam, CEO of Vntrip.com, told VET that the MoF is cooperating with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to review Agoda’s accounts. Under documents from MoF, foreign websites booking hotels in Vietnam like Agoda.com, Traveloka.com, Booking.com, and Expedia.com are subject to value added tax of 5 per cent and corporate income tax of 5 per cent. Tax liabilities are carried by establishments on behalf of foreign contractors. Vietnam, meanwhile, has signed contracts with foreign contractors and will withhold and pay tax on behalf of foreign contractors and submit tax finalization dossiers to Vietnamese tax authorities. Customers pay directly for tourism accommodation facilities in Vietnam, including hotels, and tourism accommodation providers then pay commissions to foreign contractors. Accommodation … [Read more...] about Finance Ministry looking at accusations against Agoda.com

International outbound trips by Vietnamese residents were estimated at 4.8 million in 2016, and are forecast to grow by an average of 9.5 percent per year (2nd highest growth rate after Myanmar at 10.6 percent) to reach 7.5 million trips by 2021, according to the MasterCard Future of Outbound Travel in Asia Pacific (2016 to 2021) Report. Accordingly, total outbound travel will grow much faster than household growth (9.5 percent versus 0.9 percent) over the forecast period resulting in a ratio of outbound trips-to-households that is projected to reach 34.7 percent in 2021 from 23.2 percent in 2016. About 48.0 percent of outbound trips were made by Vietnamese households that earned above $30,000 per annum in 2016, an income range that accounts for 16.5 percent of all households. This puts the concentration ratio at 2.9. Lower-income households that earned less than $10,000 have a concentration ratio of 0.2 while middle-income households that range from $10,000 to $30,000 have a ratio … [Read more...] about Outbound trips by Vietnamese residents increasing

The head of the Vietnam Institute of Economics believes that 2017 will be a tougher year for the country’s economy, thus listing several priorities that need addressing so the government can meet its GDP growth target. In a Lunar New Year interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien asserted that the challenges awaiting the Vietnamese economy in 2017 are huge, if not much bigger than in 2016. “Consequently, besides the priority of creating favorable conditions for enterprises and businesspeople, the government should also focus on achieving actual, rather than nominal, economic growth,” Thien said. Challenges linger Vietnam's economy expanded 6.21 percent in 2016, lagging behind the 2015 growth of 6.68 percent and the government's target of 6.7 percent, according to the General Statistics Office. Despite the first economic slowdown in four years, the government still set a GDP growth target for 2017 at 6.7 percent. Asked if this is an … [Read more...] about Pundit lists musts for Vietnam economy in 2017

Hennes & Mauritz AB, H&M, the international fashion brand known for offering fashion and quality at the best prices in a sustainable way, has signed for the first store openings in Vietnam in 2017 at a site yet to be revealed. CEO Karl-Johan Persson confirmed the openings while announcing a 7 per cent increase in global sales for its financial year on November 30. Last year, H&M opened online stores in 11 markets, along with 427 new brick-and-mortar stores worldwide. “This means that H&M is now present in 64 markets of which 35 offer eCommerce. We welcomed more than 13,000 new colleagues which means there are now more than 161,000 colleagues in the group,” he said. The H&M Asia online stores will also open in Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan and Malaysia, according to Inside Retail Asia. A sixth will open in Turkey. In addition, this year the company – which also operates the Cos, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday retail brands – will … [Read more...] about H&M to open in Vietnam during 2017